Air distributing means for air conditioning apparatus



5 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 2s, 1942.

IATENTOR. K

BY 5,5m :Ml/M 172% ATTORNEYS.

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Aug- 25, 1942 A. A. KUCHER 2,294,038

AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS gF'OR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed sept. 20, 1959 s Sheets-sheet 2 Z lxmlc AWORNEY v Aug. 25, 1942.

A. A. KucHER 2,294,038 AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS 'Filed se pt. 20, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Patented ug. 25, 1942 AIR DISTRIBUTING MEANS FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Andrew A. Kucher, Dayton, Ohio, assgnor to .General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware r`Application September 20, 1939, Serial No. 295,793

3 Claims.

This invention relates to air distributing means for air conditioning apparatus and more particularly to air conditioning apparatus which may be installed in existing buildings Without materially altering the existing building structure.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved air distributing duct system.

Another object of 'this invention is to provide air ducts which are inexpensive to manufacture and insta-ll.

Another object of this invention is to provide air ducts adapted to be threaded or snaked through hollow walls, around corners, etc.

Still another. object of this invention is to provide a system of ducts for distributing conditioned air in proper amounts to the proper places without producing objectionable noises.

Still -another object of 4this invention is to prol for large -auditoriums, restaurants. and the like. One of the principal reasons why central air conditioning systems have not gone into extensive use for private homes and the like is that the cost' of an air conditioning -system for a home has been in the neighborhood of $2,000, and much of this cost has been necessitatedby thc cost of providing air conditioning ducts leading from the central conditioning unit to the various rooms or oces to be conditioned. In many cases the cost of the duct system alone has not been the main objection, as some people have been willing to pay the necessary price; but these people have not been willing to put Vup with the inconvenience and reconstruction necessitated by the installation of the conventional air ducts. One purpose of this invention, therefore, is to provide air ducts which are inexpensive and which may be readily installed in existing homes or buildings -without the necessity of'excessive cutting of Walls or damage to the decorative surfaces.

Referring now to Fig. l or the drawings, there is shown a-building I 0 having a plurality of rooms invention will be apparent lfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view showing a building provided with an air condi-A tioning system embodying one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic `View showing a modied form of .conditioning system applied to a building which originally was provided with pipes for supplying hot air to the rooms of the building;

, Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing the manner in which II adapted to be conditioned, and a machine room I2 which, for purposes of illustration, has been shown as located in the basement of the building. The reference numeral Il designates an air vconditioning unit comprising an evaporator I6 and a heating unit i8 over which air to I be conditioned is circulated by means of the fiexible air ducts constructed in accordance with l my invention are installed;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view, on an enlarged scale, showing the arrangement at the discharge end of a exible air duct;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view. on anA enlarged scale, showing a damper for controlling the amount of air supplied to a exible air l duct; and

28 consists of a small diameter exible tube memh ber which is adapted to pass between the walls These ducts have of the building as shown. suicient lexibiiity to permit short bends Without material distortion of the cross section. The ducts are of the proper diameter to permit them to be installed between the walls of existing structures, and are sufcientiy flexible so as to permit the ducts to be fed through the wall sections to desirable outlet positions. inasmuch as the ducts are thus iiexible they may readily pass between plastered wall sections and around obstructions such as are frequently' found in buildings. Inasmuch as the ducts are of smallfdiameter so as to facilitate installation, the air is .delivered into the ducts at a relatively high presand objectionable noises, the discharge openings of the ducts are 'provided with suitable air directing and diffusing means, such as at 30, shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 4. In view of the low cost of the ducts and the' ease with which the ducts may be installed. each room maybe provided with a plurality of air supply ducts. if necessary. For the purpose of illustration, however, I have shown only one supply duct per room.

As shown in Figs.'1, 2 and 3, the air ducts are installed by cutting a hole 32 in the plastered wall through which a flexible Wire 34 or the like is threaded and thereafter secured to a cap mem-- ing material All may be provided in the upper corner of the hoodll. It has been found that with this duct and hood construction the high velocity air maybe discharged from the opening l32 vwithout any objectionable noise.4 Rather than providing each air duct with a butteriy damper mounted inthe duct, I have provided a Special damper arrangement for controlling the amount of air flowing in each duct.

As best shown in Fig.. a damper 44 is carried by 'a pin 46 which is slidably mounted in a bushing 4B preferably .carried'by the `wall ofthe conditioningunit. A knob 5l is provided for adjust- A ing the settingof the damper so as to vary the amount of` air flowing into the duct. The ar. rangement shown in Fig. l is the arrangement which would be installed in existing buildings in which no hot air ducts have ever been provided ings in the wail and for threading the flexible ducts up into the rooms is much less than the time required for installing the old type of air ducts. l

' 'I'his is an important advantage as the occupants of a building are not put to any inconvenience for any length of time.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, the ilexible duct comprises a spiral reinforcing element 60, and the outer surface of the duct is provided with a spiral groove 6|. By virtue of the spiral groove on the outer surface of the duct, it is possible to screw Vthe ductin place into the wall of the air conditioning unit I4 by slightly offsetting the sheet metal adjacent the duct opening, as shown at l2 in Fig. 5.

While the form of embodiment of the inention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferre form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within'the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. Airconditioning and distributing apparatus adapted for installation in existing hollow wall buildings having a plurality of rooms to be conditioned comprising in combination, a central air conditioning unit, a conditioned air outlet in each room, means for conveying high velocity conditioned air from said unit through the hollow walls to each-of said outlets, each of said last named means comprising a 'substantially circular ilexible duct means adapted to be snaked from said unit through the hollow portion of the walls of said building to one of said outlets, and sound or in'which the old hot air ducts arev for some j reason or other .unsuitable for use.z ,In Fig. 2

I have shown a very similar arrangement except that the existinghot air ducts llhave been converted into return air ducts thereby avoiding the necessity'of providing new return air ducts. Inasmuch as the flexible air ducts are considerably smaller than those previously used, it is possible to arrange the exible air lsupply duct so as to pass within the return air ductA in'install'ations in-A which the old Ahot air v duc-t is utilized for the return air duct.

beyond the opening 52 to an opening 54 providedadjacent the ceiling. With such an arrangement deadening means lwithin the hollow portion of saidwall adjacent said air outlet comprising a non-metallic end cap havingan opening communicating with said outlet, and having an upper inner corner extending beyond the upper edge of saidopening and containing sound deadening material and having a lower opening communicating i ing .high velocity conditioned airfrom said unit to said outlet comprising an air duct having its outlet end arranged substantially at right angles to the plane of said outlet, a non-metallic end cap closing the upper end of said duct and having an opening communicating with said outlet and having -an upper inner corner extending above the upper edge of said opening and having an upperv wall sloping downwardly from Vsaid corner vtoward said opening and having a lower opening communicating with the upper endV o f said air v duct.

the conditioned air is supplied to the room from 1 a point adjacentthe ceiling and the recirculated air is withdrawn from a point adjacent the iloor of the room. By virtue of my improved construc tion and arrangement the cost of air conditioning units of this general type has been greatly reduced and the inconvenience resulting from' the cutting-of walls, ilo'ors, etc., has almost been elim-4 mated without sacricing efiiciency. .Furthermore, the time required for installing a systemv of this type ha'salsobeen very materially reduced, as the time required for cutting'the outlet open- 3. Air conditioning and distributing apparatus comprising -in-combination, an air conditioning unit, a conditioned air outlet, means for conveying high velocityconditioned Vair` from said unit to said outlet comprising an air duct having its outlet end arranged substantially at right angles to the plane of said outlet, a. non-metallic end cap closing the upper endrof said duct, and having an Vopening communicating with said outlet and having an upper inner corner extending above -the upper edge of said opening and having an upper wall sloping downwardly from said corner toward said opening and having a lower opening communicating with the upper end of said sir duct. and sound deadening material disposed 

